1 Answer

Yeah, it's not apparent how they're put together. Here's how you do it:
On the back next to the power connector and fan, gently put a flathead screwdriver under the side panel and just unsnap it from the back corner - don't try to pry it all the way off yet, as it's fragile and will break in two easily (I messed it up the first time i tried).
Then gently slide the screwdriver under the loosened side panel and unhook it from the three pairs of connectors along the side until you can unsnap it from the front side and remove it.
Repeat for the other side.
Now the front panel will just pop off.
And then the top and bottom halves of the enclosure will simply separate and you can lift the top right off.
-pv

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If they aren't, break open the case and put the drives into new enclosures or place them in a desktop (if you have extra IDE or SATA connectors available) as secondary drives. You may need adapters if these are portable drives. This will let you see if the enclosure has failed or the drive itself. The one that is clicking may not be usable (clicking usually means a head problem). However, you should be able to recover files. You may need to use a file recovery program, like Recuva, if the drive has lost the partition information.

I hope this helps. If the drives are under warranty, decide if you want to void your warranty. The data will not be recovered under warranty with most external drives.

Cindy Wells (I've replaced several hard drives when they went bad. By cloning the drive before it fails, I haven't lost data. I've also attempted to rescue data after the failure. I try to back up important data to optical discs as well as flash drives and backup HDDs.)

if the usb port on your hard drive is broken you can purchase an external usb hard drive case enclosure. remove the hard drive from the original case first and make sure it is either SATA or IDE then you will know which type of enclosure you will need to purchase.

First thing, check to see if the connection are properly connected, and the drive is turned on. You rexternal hard drive should be able to work with windows Xp and up. If all connection is made, and other device can be connected via usb and not your drive then it your external drive that has malfuction. Try testing it on another computer to make sure, but at this point I believe your external drive is dead and malfuction. even though external drive enclosure still work if you see a power light coming from it, your hard drive disk inside it is damaged, and will need replacement. If you have important data saved to your fantom drive, you can maybe recover the files by sending it to bestbuy, office depot to see if they can recover the files, The fee upon that will vary on how much data is recovered.

Take a "multi-meter" and measure both the voltage and amperage output from the AC adapter, and compare with the specifications on the label on the adapter.

Open the enclosure, and remove the disk-drive, and then connect it as a "slave" disk-drive in a desktop computer, to see if it works at all.

Purchase a new, compatible, disk-drive, and install it in the enclosure, to "revive" your external storage device.

Get the part-number and serial-number from the label on your disk-drive, and access the manufacturer's web-site, and use "check warranty status", to see if they will replace the device, at minimal cost to you.

The disk-drive inside the enclosure is problematic.
Open the enclosure, to get the model-number and serial-number from the label on the disk-drive.
Then, access Fantom's web-site, to check the warranty-status of the drive. If the warranty still is valid, they will replace it, at minimal cost to you.
If the warranty has expired, purchase a new, compatible, disk-drive, and transplant it into the enclosure, to "resuscitate" your device.

If the light turns on (mine was blue) but the drive is not recognized on your computer desktop that most likely means the drive does not have enough power. This happened to me too, and I took it to a computer expert and he said the drive was not even spinning. So it was either the external power source that broke or the internal power source, the power panel that broke. I took it to a batter plus and tested the wattage for the external power source and it was okay so then i took the entire drive apart and disconnected the naked hard drive from the power panel. Then I purchased "SATA to USB" cables (runs around 10-20 bucks) and connected the naked hard drive that way to the computer and it worked. So the problem is basically that the internal power panel is not working, and i had 2 fantom drives that both had this problem and they both worked after i did what i just said.. so I think your drive has the same problem since the light comes on but the drive is not spinning. Take it apart, buy some SATA to USB cables and it should work.

The symptoms don't look too good. Looks like the host controller is querying the hard disk (blink) and not liking the answer - or lack thereof (red).

It looks like the internal disk is defective. Sometimes the disk can be
(possibly partially) recovered by disassembling the enclosure and
mounting it in another enclosure or directly inside a compatible
desktop PC.

I had this EXACT same problem. Blinking blue light and the hard drive never powers on. VERY frustrating...I have a home studio was in danger of losing over a year's worth of original music. However, this problem has a solution which I read about on this site: "The problem was with the power source not the actual drive so I ended up pulling the drive out of the case and purchasing a new case from Newegg.com. It now works fine and only cost about $30 to fix."This is EXCELLENT advice and FixYa is the only place I read about this solution. Though I'm no newbie with computers, I certainly had never swapped out an external hard drive. But, in 30 minutes for about $30, this problem is TOTALLY SOLVABLE. I went to newegg.com and ordered this product:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817106095

an external Azio hard drive enclosure. Because I always used Firewire hard drives, I got an enclosure that accepted Firewire---however, many others are available with just USB 2.0. Following the directions that came with the enclosure, I removed my blue-light blinking, non-functional hard drive from its enclosure and placed it into the Azio. Now, the unit is working fine. No datawas lost and the Azio drive seems to be working properly.THIS IS A FANTOM HARDWARE PROBLEM---NOT SOFTWARE PROBLEM! I encourage the MANY people who have complained about Fantom drives and gotten no assistance to try this solution and avoid Fantom in the future.To whoever posted this solution: thanks a million. You made my day.www.ediesedgwick.biz